Seattle Seahawks To Russell Wilson: Here’s To Four More Years

The Seattle Seahawks front office must have been watching “Rounders” last night and finally realized what we all knew was the right move for the team and their future:

“Pay him. Pay that man his money.”

Russell Wilson is sporting a well-deserved $87.6M smile today and the hidden value in this deal is that Tarvaris Jackson is in no danger of taking over the starting QB job for the Seahawks. That was simply never going to happen, but you can officially breathe and sleep easy, Seahawks fans.

Numerous sports outlets reported as recently as Thursday night that the team and Wilson’s agent Mark Rodgers were rumored to be too far apart in negotiations to get a deal made by Wilson’s self-imposed deadline of July 31st at 10AM PST, but Seattle GM John Schneider pulled the trigger on a massive contract extension just hours before the doomsday clock struck midnight in the Emerald City.

Wilson and his agent were rumored to be asking for (if not outright demanding) an average salary of $25M and more than $61M in guaranteed money, which would have made him the highest paid player by average salary, and he would have had the most guaranteed money of any player in the league.

Just hours before he was set to officially put his contract negotiations on hold for the season, Wilson agreed to a 4-year, $87.6M extension with a $31M signing bonus and $60M in guaranteed money. The deal makes Wilson the second highest paid player in the league with an average salary of $21.9M, just a hair behind Aaron Rodgers, who earns an average salary of $22M. Wilson’s $60M in guaranteed money puts him in a tie for second league-wide with Cam Newton, behind only Colin Kaepernick, who has a deal worth $61M guaranteed.

One very important part of this deal is the length of the extension, as Wilson is 26 years old (turning 27 in November) and his new 4-year deal means that he will have a golden opportunity to cash in on an even bigger deal when he is 30 and expected to be at the peak of his powers in the summer of 2019.

With Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and Jimmy Graham under contract for at least the next two years, the offense will be in great hands and even more creative and difficult to defend. On defense, Bobby Wagner has a new deal in the works and once those terms are agreed to, he will join Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, and Michael Bennett as key cogs on the defensive side locked in for the Seahawks’ wide open title window.

In one stroke of a pen, Wilson has gone from being the NFL’s most grossly underpaid QB (the $1.5M he was set to earn in 2015 set him as the 45th highest paid QB, behind even former Seattle backup Charlie Whitehurst), and brought him all the way to being the league’s second highest paid player.

The flip side of his previously borderline-insulting pay-grade is that Wilson has been the NFL’s best bargain since day one, and the competition isn’t even close. For any player in NFL history through their first three seasons, he ranked 1st with 42 wins, 1st with 6 playoff wins, 1st with two Super Bowl starts, 2nd in passer rating at 98.5, and 4th in passing touchdowns with 84.

While it may not have been a talking point in negotiations, Wilson has outplayed virtually every QB in NFL history through their first three seasons, and when facing the best QB’s in the NFL today (a list that includes Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Andrew Luck), Wilson boasts a whopping 8-2 record including the regular season and playoffs. QB’s are asked to win above all else, and that’s exactly what Wilson puts his main focus on.

The Seahawks and their fans must be excited to have Wilson officially on board and happy, and to see what he can do with his contract negotiations in the rear-view mirror, and two of the NFL’s most feared red-zone threats in Lynch and Graham lining up with him every Sunday this season.

While he may not be the highest paid or the player with the most guaranteed money, it would be hard to argue that Wilson doesn’t have the widest title window of any QB in the league today, and a supporting cast on both sides of the ball to make him truly “DangerRuss” for years to come.

Related Slideshow: Oregon’s Top Pac-12 College Football Players

#22 Byron Marshall

College: University of Oregon

Position: Running Back

In 2013 he had 168 carries, 14 touchdowns, 13 catches, 155 receiving yards, and 1,038 rushing yards. It’s no wonder he makes it as #22 on this list. Not only do these stats make him a player to watch, but also a player with a lot of potential to climb the rankings.

#19 Isaac Seumalo

College: Oregon State University

Position: Offensive Lineman

This Offensive Lineman managed to block QB Sean Mannion who set the Pac-12 single-season record with 4,662 yards passing. With his abilities to block in the manner of which he did makes him a prime candidate to possibly win the Rimington Trophy, Outland Trophy, and/or Rotary Lombardi Award.

#10 Hroniss Grasu

College: University of Oregon

Position: Center

As a junior in 2013 he became one of three Oregon native players to be named All-Pac-12 two seasons in a row. He has managed to lead the offensive line to the conference’s number 1 rushing attack. Entering his final year at U of O, Grasu has started all 40 games of his career at UO making him one of the Duck’s greatest players.

#6 Sean Mannion

College: Oregon State University

Position: Quarterback

Ranking here for breaking the Pac-12 single-season record with 4,662 yards thrown, 35 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions, this is a player the NFL is watching closely. Already sitting at #10 on the conference’s all-time passing list, it’s going to be a breeze for him to pass Matt Barkley’s record of 12,327 yards thrown.

#4 Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

College: University of Oregon

Position: Cornerback

In 2013 he was the second Ducks player to have 84 tackles with 3 interceptions, and 9 passes defended. He is a force to be reckoned with. It has been unanimous that he is to be the 2014 Preseason All-American. It’s also been hinted that he may not last too long in the 2015 NFL draft.

#1 Marcus Mariota

College: University of Oregon

Position: Quarterback

With stats such as completing 63.5% of his passes with 3,665 yards, 31 touchdowns, only 4 interceptions, rushing a total of 715 yards with 9 touchdowns, this makes him a hot candidate for the NFL. He has managed to make U of O one of the Pac-12 favorite college teams as well as a national title contender. He has also set a U of O single-season record throwing 4,380 total yards and set a Pac-12 record by attempting to throw 353 consecutive passes without interception. He is also in the running to win the Heisman Trophy as a 1A option.